Tata Consultancy Services unveils new platform for the digital era

Tata Consultancy Services announced the release of its Underwriting Workbench, a multi-faceted platform that combines dynamic case management, intelligent workflow, and decision support systems with robust geospatial functions such as mapping and visualization capabilities to form a solution that augments the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire underwriting process. The solution automates the ability to capture, analyze and make use of data in order to determine risk exposure and risk aggregation.

Recognizing that the primary source of risk and liability is focused on a company’s location, TCS designed the Underwriting Workbench to give underwriters full use of location based technology and data in order to inform risk selection, the information gathering process, scoring, decision making and pricing.

“Within the insurance industry, there are extensive opportunities for location-based data and geospatial technologies, and while the volume of data is overwhelming, it is also of extraordinary value to underwriters,” said Suresh Muthuswami, President, Insurance and Healthcare, TCS. “At TCS, we’re working with our partners and investing in our innovation labs to capitalize on these advances in digital technologies to develop solutions that our customers need to digitally re-imagine their business and be successful in this new environment.”

“Rapidly accelerating changes in information technology capabilities are driving change in insurance underwriting across property and casualty,” said Matt Josefowicz, Managing Director at Novarica. “State-of-the-art underwriting today means fully electronic workflow and extensive use of a wide range of third-party data. Insurers whose systems don’t support all available capabilities will be at a serious disadvantage in pricing risk effectively and serving their distributors competitively.”

TCS’ Underwriting Workbench incorporates Pitney Bowes’ Software Spectrum Spatial solution for locating and visualizing potential risks across multiple assets and properties and Pegasystems’ Commercial Underwriting application with workflow functionality and business process rules that simplify and support all underwriting needs. Additionally, the Underwriting Workbench offers underwriters one platform upon which they can quickly and effectively analyze data, communicate with colleagues and customers, comply with underwriting guidelines and track risk exposure in real time.

“Accuracy and precision are absolutely crucial in the insurance world,” says James Buckley, Senior Vice President, Location Intelligence, Pitney Bowes. “Seeing a single view of risk, across actuaries, cost management, underwriting, claims—it all will affect their customer’s experience, and the insurers' top line. Location intelligence technologies are finally making this possible.” Chris Blatchly, VP, Global Insurance Leader for Pegasystems added, “We are pleased that TCS decided to incorporate our new Commercial Underwriting Application into their Underwriting Workbench. It is great to see our partners leverage Pega to bring innovation to the market.”

The Underwriting Workbench was developed in TCS’ Insurance Innovation Lab, a state-of-the-art environment for customers to test new ideas and trial new solutions. The Innovation Lab has been focused on capturing the latest technologies, e.g. big data, mobile, GIS, etc., and channelling those into viable services that will help to accelerate profitability, maximize efficiencies and build stronger relationships between the insurer and the insured.